Via this cool site (Reinventing Parking), Paris has a policy whereby if a development is 500 meters from a metro stop, there’s no obligation to build parking from the developer (but they can choose to). This could work in some U.S. cities, although not a ton of them, admittedly. Cities like Berlin (per that same site) have basically abolished parking minimums (the need for there to be a set number of parking spaces associated with a development), and if you talk to a good number of New York/Brooklyn hipsters, they’ll tell you that Berlin is “a place to be” (people are moving there). Berlin has good public transportation, so this is somewhat feasible.

What if this happened in the U.S.?

In certain cities, it might be a lot more challenging; there are definitely very car-centric cities in the United States, such as Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami (although all have light rail and bus systems that are certainly commendable, especially compared to 10-15 years ago). But if we abolished parking minimums like a Berlin or Paris, we could encourage more people to reach events/shopping via public transportation, walking or bike — and that’s good for the environment (and the culture of a city!), even if it’s a bit more annoying to take your groceries home on foot or via bike than in your SUV.

It’s an interesting thing to think about — how do people really get around in your city, and how did they 20 years ago vs. how they might 20 years from now? Things are necessarily changing. Cities have to make sure they adapt.